Phi Tran comes into Dang’s Cafe every day at 8 a.m. to prepare for his day as general manager and head chef. Because quality is so important to him, Tran allows his broth to cook for 12 hours before deciding it’s ready.

Dang’s Cafe, located at 1828 Butternut St., celebrated its grand opening on Jan. 26. Since then, they’ve been serving up traditional Vietnamese food — and, as owner Nhan Dang said, giving back to the community through the art of good cuisine.

“I feel like this neighborhood needs a place like this,” Dang said. He moved to Syracuse from Vietnam 16 years ago and has lived in central New York ever since.

“Some people might see Syracuse as going downhill, but I don’t, and I’m happy that my place can add to the city.”

Head chef Tran said his preparation methods for dishes including pho — a traditional Vietnamese soup made with broth, rice noodles called banh pho and various herbs — are customary to his Vietnamese culture.

“Back in the day in Vietnam, people did not have powder seasonings and stuff like that, there was no pre-made chicken or beef flavor, so I try to replicate that here as much as I can,” Tran said.

When making broth, Tran uses two whole chickens for the chicken broth and beef shanks with the bone for the beef broth. He said you can definitely tell the difference from the two. He also adds cloves, cinnamon, ginger root and onions.

Gillian Pelkonen | Contributing Photographer

Nadia Suleman, a junior magazine journalism major at Syracuse University, said Dang’s Cafe offered her an outlet to try food from a different culture.

“My cultural background is Ethiopian, so I’m used to spicy cuisine,” Suleman said. “I’d never tried Vietnamese food before going to Dang’s, but I love exploring new foods, and it was really good.”

Patrons can choose from an array of rice dishes, sandwiches and other traditional dishes including pho. Pho is often served with some kind of meat, but Dang’s Cafe also offers a vegetarian-friendly pho, made with daikon, onion, ginger root, radish, carrots and mushrooms.

The cafe is working on adding more vegetarian options, including rice, spring rolls and sandwiches.

Dang and Tran said they want to invite the Syracuse community to try Vietnamese food. The cuisine is an explosion of flavors ranging from spicy, sweet, aromatic and sour, Tran said.

“The flavors hit you on so many levels if you are a first-timer, but it’s delicious and an incredibly unique experience,” Tran said.

The cafe prides itself on cooking with natural, fresh ingredients, Tran said. He said they choose to only buy locally and keep the menu small to maintain efficient quality control, as well as preparing all dishes in-house and from scratch.

Customers can look forward to new additions to the menu soon. The cafe will start making boombayah — a spicy beef noodle soup — and a Vietnamese pancake.

The cafe also has new dessert items in the making. Recently, it added a fruit cocktail made with jackfruit, acorn jelly, strawberries, raspberries, raspberry syrup, mint and condensed milk. Patrons can also expect a brand-new avocado ice cream.

“We chose to take a risk and make everything from scratch, and because of that everything has to be top quality,” Tran said. “It’s the only way we’re going to do it.”

Dang said he believes his business practices and appealing menu items will bring in customers.

“Some of my friends told me that we might not be in a good business zone, but I disagree,” he said. “I believe if the food is good, people will come no matter what.”

Published on February 18, 2018 at 10:13 pm

Contact Leah: ltoney@syr.edu